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Harper bounces RCMP chief superintendent in charge of long-gun registry
Tue, 2010-08-17 22:46
#1
Harper bounces RCMP chief superintendent in charge of long-gun registry
Tue, 2010-08-17 22:47
#2
[url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/08/17/long-gun-registry-cheliak.html... of federal gun program ousted[/url]
The head of the Canadian Firearms Program who is a strong supporter of the long-gun registry is quietly being bounced out of the position, CBC News has learned.
RCMP Chief Supt. Marty Cheliak, director general of the program, is being sent off to French language training after nine months on the job on orders from RCMP Commissioner William Elliott, according to police sources.
The Canadian Firearms Program (CFP) oversees the administration of the Firearms Act and regulations. In 2006, the responsibility for the CFP was transferred to the RCMP.
Cheliak had reformed the program and lobbied forcefully, including before a parliamentary committee, for a continued long-gun registry, something the Conservative government has been determined to scrap.
Tue, 2010-08-17 22:49
#3
Of course they bounced him.
Cheliak's key contribution has been to guide the country's three main police alliances - the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the Canadian Police Association and the Canadian Association of Police Boards - into a common front to fight for registration.
He built a coalition. So he had to go.
Tue, 2010-08-17 23:05
#4
Wed, 2010-08-18 22:53
#5
[url=http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/politics/Martin+Letting+Cheliak+... Martin: Letting go of Cheliak was entirely political, despite what Harper says[/url]
When RCMP Commissioner William Elliott dumped Chief Supt. Marty Cheliak as head of the Canadian Firearms Program, the move was justified because this senior officer was a tad too unilingual for a bilingual position.[...]
There’s no excuse, justification or half-decent rationalization for Mr. Elliott’s actions on Wednesday. Bring on the laughable lie, a wallop of obvious nose-stretching that’s all the more alarming emanating from a national police force which seems to be axing senior staff in anticipation of the government’s wishes. [...]
“The RCMP makes its own decisions with respect to its personnel,” shrugged Prime Minister Stephen Harper. “This is not a political issue.”
Who is he kidding? When the top cop for a firearms program leads the charge to support a registry the government aims to abolish suddenly disappears for language training and reassignment, that’s no easy sale as a coincidence. [...]
If nothing else, Supt. Cheliak could become a polar-opposite example of how the Harper government treats its appointees.
Veterans Ombudsman Pat Stogran is one extreme. He became an angry thorn for a government that promptly denied him a contract extension after one term.
William Elliott may prove to be the other extreme. For doing the government this very big personnel transfer favour, the troubled civilian police commissioner is now officially bulletproof from premature contract termination and may be a very safe bet for an extension.